Wheel construction for front



March 4, 1952 R HOLMES I Re. 23,465

WHEEL CONSTRUCTION FOR FRONT WHEEL DRIVES Original Filed May 5, 1943 2SHEETS-SHEET 1 H ARLEtGH R. HOLMES INVENTOR.

v ha/LWM March 4, 1952 H. R. HOLMES 23,465

WHEEL. CONSTRUCTION FOR FRONT WHEEL DRIVES Original Filed May 6, 1943 2SHEETS-SHEET 2 HARLEIGH R. HOL MES INVENTOR.

Reissued Mar. 4, 1952 WHEEL CONSTRUCTION FOR FRONT I WHEEL DRIVESHarleigh R. Holmes, Littleton, Cl0., assignor to Coleman MotorsCorporation, Littleton, 0010., a corporation of Colorado Original No.2,346,842, dated April 18, 1944, Serial No. 485,937, May 6, 1943.Application for reissue November 7, 1951, Serial No. 255,241

Matter enclosed in heavy brackets I: appears in the original patent butforms no part of this reissue specification; matter printed in italicsindicates the additions made by reissue.

4 Claims.

1 v This invention relates to improvement in wheel mountings for frontwheel drive vehicles and relates" more particularly to an improvedconstruction of the type described and claimed in U. S. Patent 1,619,672granted on March 1, 1927;

The importance of four wheel drive for heavy duty trucks has long beenrecognized and such trucks are now extensively employed. Front wheeldrive for pleasure cars also has many points of merit.

Front wheel drives are not as simple as other drives for the reason thatthe front wheels are also used'for steering and means fortransmittingpower must therefore be so designed that this can beeffected without interfering with the steering. In' the patent aboveidentified, a power transmission device admirably adapted for frontwheel drive has been shown, which is employed with slight variations. inthe present invention. In heavy duty trucks, where four wheel drives aremostly employed, the parts are subjected to very severe strains, andalthough they are designed with this in view, it is evident that theparts will wear and means must therefore be provided for effectingadjustments. 1

Inorder that the wheels maybe employed for steering they must be mountedso as to turn about vertical pivots. Since the weights that must besupported are large, the vertical pivots are positioned in the planes ofthe wheels, as clearly shown in Fig. l of the patent above identitled.The vertical pivot bearings are, of course, of the antifriction type andmust be adjusted from time to time to correct or compensate for wear. Inthe patent above identified, such adjustments are effected by means ofthebolts 13. It is the principal object of this invention to improve theconstruction shown in the above identified patent in such a way thatadjustment for wear of the vertical pivot bearings can be effectedwithout removing the wheels and which, therefore, makes it possible tokeep the parts in proper adjustment with the expenditure of acomparatively small amount of labor.

Having thus pointed out the principal object of the invention the latterwill now be described in detail and for this purpose reference will behad to the accompanying drawings in which the invention has beenillustrated and in which Figure 1 is a diametrical section taken on linell Figure 2;

Figure 2 is a transverse section taken on line 2-2 Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a section taken on line 4-4 Figure 3; and

Figure 5 is a part section similar to the one shown in Figure 1 andshows a slightly modified construction.

In the drawings, reference numeral 5 designates the axle housing andreference numeral 6 an extension secured thereto by bolts I. The driveshaft has been designated by reference numeral 8. The hollow[extensions] extension 6 is provided on its upper and lower surfaces,near its outer end, with circular depressions, 9, for the reception oftheinner bearing races, Ill. The depressions, 9, are concentric and inparallel planes. The outer bearing races have been designated by numeralII. A spindle, l2, of somewhat cylindrical form is provided in the lowerpart of its inner surface with a cylindrical seat IS in which is seatedthe outer bearing race ll of the lower bearing. It will be remarked thatin the drawings frusto conical rollers, it,

have been shown but balls may be used if desired and the term bearingrace is therefore employed. Spindle I2 is provided in upper part of itswall with a cylindrical opening l5, that is concentric with a diameterconcentric with depression I3. The inner bearing race ill of the upperbearing is seated in the upper depression 9 and the outer bearing raceII is seated in and extends upwardly into opening IS. A hearing cap itis positioned in opening l5 and rests on 'the upper bearing race II. Aheavy steel ring ,I'I surrounds the spindle l2 and holds a, wedge Itwill be observed that the bearing bottom [8, in which is positioned [a]the wedge,

Spindle l2 has a threaded opening, 20, in which is operativelypositioned a screw, 2 I, whose inner end abuts the [wide] thick end ofthe wedge. A lock nut, 22, serves to hold the screw from turning. Bymeans of a suitable wrench applied to the head of screw 2| it may beturned and the wedge forced outwardly. The wedge being positionedbetween the [upper ball bearing] cap 16 and the inner surface of ring ll(Fig. 2) serves to adjust the bearings to compensate for wear.

Attention is directed to the fact that the head of screw 2| is sopositioned that it is readily accessible and the bearings can thereforebe quickly adjusted at any time. With the construction shown in theabove patent it requires a large Figure 3 is a top plan view of thebearing cap; amount of time and labor to adjust the bearings 3 bytightening bolts l3 as can be readily seen from an inspection of Figure1, but with present construction this adjustment can be readily made.

In Figures 3 and 4 the bearing cap [6 has been shown respectively in topplan view and diametrical section and in Figure the parts have beenshown assembled. The difference between theembodiment illustrated inFigure 5 and that shown in Figures 1 and 2 resides mainly in thebearings, the [lower ball] inner races [Illa] 11a being annular andpositioned in [an] annular [groove] grooves in the axle housingextension 6, the cones [I6] 14 being somewhat differently inclined.

Having described the invention what is claimed as new is:

1. In a front wheel drive construction having an axle housing and asurrounding tubular spindle mounted for movement relative to the axlehousing about'a substantially vertical pivot, antifriction bearingspositioned between the spindle and the axle housing, one above and onebelow the axle housing, the latter having means for positioning thebearings in axial alignment, the. inner'surface of the tubular spindlehaving diametrically opposed bearing seats each for one of the races ofa bearing, means positioned between the inner surface of the spindle andthe corresponding bearing race for urging the bearing inwardly, saidmeans comprising a wedge movable in the direction of the axis of thespindle, and

means for moving the wedge comprising a screw operatively connected withthe spindle and the Wedge.

2. A front wheel drive construction having an axle housing, a tubularspindle surrounding an end thereof, two spindle bearings interposedbetween the axle housing and the spindle, one above and one below theaxle housing, the lower surface of the spindle having a bearing seat,the wall of the spindle directly above the seat having an opening forthe reception of a portion of the upper bearing, a bearing cappositioned in the openmg and resting on the upper surface of the upperbearing, a steel ring [enclosing] encircling the "spindle and positionedto form a [closure for the opening] retainer for the upper bearing andbearing cap, the bearing cap having a diametrically extending surfaceinclined with respect to 4 housing, the outer end of the housing havingseats for the reception of bearing races, one in the upper and anotherin the lower, surface, an anti-friction bearing comprising outer andinner races, spaced by rotatable elements, positioned in each seat, atubular spindle surrounding the axle housing, the inner surface ,of thespindle having a seatfor the reception of the outer race of one bearing,the spindle having an opening positioned diametrically opposite from thespindle seat, the outer race of the other bearing projecting into theopening, a bearing cap positioned in the opening and resting on theouter bearing race of said other bearing, a ring surrounding the spindleand positioned to extend over the opening, the outer surface of thebearing cap having a diametrical groove with a bottom inclinedin thedirection of the axis. of the -spindle, whereby a tapering space isformed between the bottom and the inner surface of the ring, a wedgepositioned inthe -groove, and means comprisinga screw threadedlyengaging a. portion of the spin dle and positioned to engage the largeendof the wedge for forcing it towards the narrow end of the space toadjust the bearings. 1 4. In a front wheel driveconstruction whichincludes an axle housing and a tubular spindle mounted for relativepivotal movement about a --ve rt ical pivot, the housing having itsendprovided with a seat for the reception of the [outer] inner race of[the] a, lower bearing, the spindle having its wall provided with anopening diametrically above the lower bearing seat for the reception ofthe outer race of [the] an upper bearing, an anti-friction bearing belowand another above the housing, a bearing cap positioned in the openingand resting on the upper bearing, a ring surrounding the spindle andpositioned to at least partly close the opening, the outer surface ofthe bearing cap having a diametrical groove whose bottom is outwardlyinclined whereby an outwardly tapered space is formed between the innersurface of the ring and the bottom of the groove, a wedge positioned inthe tapered space, and means comprising a screw 'operatively associatedwith the spindle and the wedge for forcing the wedge towards the narrowend of the space to efiect a tightening of the bearing.

HARLEIGH R. HOLMES.

Name Date Number Holmes Mar. 1, 1927

